# Newbie beware: A sure way to mess up humidity beads



## mrnuke (Aug 24, 2013)

I am still in the process of discovering what works best for me (read "noob"). I had a small tube of 60% heartfelt beads lying unused, and I figured, what a great thing it would be get a small container, to charge 'em up, put a couple of sticks, let them shit for a couple of days, and see how the sticks taste at 60% RH.

So, I took a shot glass, filled it with distilled, put it in a small container, put the heartfelt tube, put the lid on, and let it do its job. When I returned, I discovered the shot glass has spilled and the tube was soaked in (formerly distilled) water. I quickly took the tube, put it on a towel to let it dry, but at this point it was way too late. The (formerly distilled) water tasted like salt (OH-OU!). Needless to say, after I dried most of the beads, and put the tube in a sealed box with a hygrometer, they would no longer hold the proper humidity (going as high as 80%+). Most of that good salt that actually regulates humidity resided in the (formerly distilled) water.

R.I.P. dear beads.

Hopefully, I am the last person ever to make this mistake. "Idiot-proof" does not mean "careless-proof". Keep this in mind, and take good care of your beads. Too much water will ruin them.


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## JustinThyme (Jun 17, 2013)

Thanks for manning up and sharing so others can learn from your mistake.

Beads dont like to be submersed. Just spritzed with a little water.


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## jurgenph (Jun 29, 2011)

FWIW... i hardly ever recharge my 60% beads.
i usually let them dry out for a day or two every now and then

60% beads don't have the buffering capacity ther 65 ot 70% beads have.
a little water easily saturates them at or over capacity.

if you want to try a few cigars at 60% and you've stored them at higher rh before, put them in a closed container with DRY 60% beads.

throw in a calibrated hygrometer as well. once you see the RH above 60% for a day or two, take the beads out and let them dry for a day or so, then put them back in.


J.


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## KcJason1 (Oct 20, 2010)

Everything smokes and taste better at 60.... I store my entire stash at 59-62


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## six10 (May 23, 2013)

That sucks. I've made plenty of cigar related mistakes myself. Good thing is they usually only happen once.


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## mrnuke (Aug 24, 2013)

It was exactly immersing the beads that I was trying to prevent when I decided to charge them from vapor. I learned my lesson I hope. I'll probably build a charging station that holds the water on the bottom, and keeps the beads elevated (note to self: "safely elevated").

jurgenph, thanks for the advice. I'll definitely try it this way when I get my next tube of 60% beads. I guess I could also leave a stick or two out in the open. Humidity in my house is around 50%-60% this time of year.


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## Montecristo#4 (May 2, 2011)

So I have used beads and crystals, I found that you need a large humidifier of silica beads for my small 100 Cigar humidor and it seemed to always drop to around 60% I know that some people like it at this level. A friend of mine showed me polymer crystals, I ordered a small one for $8.99 removed the BIG bag of silica beads and replaced with the crystals and found that the small "cigar size" crystal humidifier worked better than the 1 lb bag of silica beads. Now I have room for around 20 more sticks. My humidity sits around 68% and because the humidifier is transparent you notice when the crystals need to be refilled. Hands down Crystals a way better then silica beads!


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## mrnuke (Aug 24, 2013)

There is a big difference between "silica beads" and "humidification beads". When I washed MY HFs, I turned them from the latter into the former. Which "beads" did you use?


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## dmanuel (Aug 17, 2013)

JustinThyme said:


> Beads dont like to be submersed. Just spritzed with a little water.


Why do you say this? Is there something that I am missing?

I was reading the directions from heartfelt and it says to put them in 1/8"-1/4" of water. I'm really hoping that I didn't already mess up all my beads!


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## mrnuke (Aug 24, 2013)

dmanuel said:


> Why do you say this? Is there something that I am missing?
> 
> I was reading the directions from heartfelt and it says to put them in 1/8"-1/4" of water. I'm really hoping that I didn't already mess up all my beads!


The science behind beads is saturated salt solutions. You can only dissolve so much salt in water, and that determines the mole fraction of water, which in turn, determines the vapur pressure exerted by the water in the solution relative to the vapour pressure of pure water. This is the definition of relative humidity. This exact same principle applies to the (table) salt calibration, which just happens to maintain a humidity around 75%.

Different salts have different solubilities, and thus, maintain different relative humidities. The beads are coated in one of these salts. When you immerse the beads, you wash off these salts, therefore removing the very thing that helps the beads maintain a fixed RH level.

Two things can happen when you add too much water:

 You add enough water to dissolve all the salt and them some, without it dripping. In this case, you no longer have a saturated solution, and the mole fraction of water will be higher than "designed". This will give you a higher than rated RH until the excess water evaporates, then things return to normal.
 You add enough water to dissolve all the salt, and the water drips off the beads. That water has now taken away a big portion of the salts. Depending on how much salt was removed, the beads may or may not work as rated, but will now have a reduced capacity to absorb water.

Less technical details: http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/cigar-accessory-questions/9483-humidification-beads-faqs.html


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## .cigardude. (Jul 8, 2013)

Sounds to me like you totally removed all the salts from the beads.
I don't think the website says to put the beads into 1/8-1/4" of water.:ask:


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## dmanuel (Aug 17, 2013)

mrnuke said:


> The science behind beads is saturated salt solutions. You can only dissolve so much salt in water, and that determines the mole fraction of water, which in turn, determines the vapur pressure exerted by the water in the solution relative to the vapour pressure of pure water. This is the definition of relative humidity. This exact same principle applies to the (table) salt calibration, which just happens to maintain a humidity around 75%.
> ....


Thank you for that, it explained a lot of questions I was having about the beads.



.cigardude. said:


> Sounds to me like you totally removed all the salts from the beads.
> I don't think the website says to put the beads into 1/8-1/4" of water.:ask:


Mine seem to still be holding around the 65% mark, so I doubt I have but it is still a concern since I am a nervous nellie. Here is a picture of the directions.









Edit: For some reason the picture isn't posting.


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## mrnuke (Aug 24, 2013)

Hmmm. Dug in the trash can for the instructions. Mine don't say that.


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## ShotgunLuckey (Jul 19, 2013)

they must have changed their recommendations.....


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## mrnuke (Aug 24, 2013)

Why won't the god damn picture show up? (2 posts prior)


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## dmanuel (Aug 17, 2013)

mrnuke said:


> Hmmm. Dug in the trash can for the instructions. Mine don't say that.





ShotgunLuckey said:


> they must have changed their recommendations.....


I wonder if it's because I am using the hockey puck style and yours are for the tubes.



mrnuke said:


> Why won't the god damn picture show up? (2 posts prior)


I am seeing yours just fine. I had to open mine in firefox instead of chrome to see it.


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## DBragg (Jun 13, 2013)

Im fairly confident the instructions that came with my pucks said to place them in 1/8th of an inch of DW. The instructions that came with the 1/2 lbs that I ordered didnt say to put them in a dish, rather it said to add a table spoon full of DW to the beads to bring them to 65%.


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## mrnuke (Aug 24, 2013)

Keep a close eye on the puck, but if it still holds the right humidity, all is not lost.


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## dmanuel (Aug 17, 2013)

It just makes me wonder why they put that in the instructions if it's harmful. Perhaps it is only harmful if you really over saturate them and the 1/8" - 1/4" won't.


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## DBragg (Jun 13, 2013)

Im not sure that direct contact with DW is good for them, as they will fracture and split in half. I have some broken beads in both my pucks. According to HF the broken beads still perform adequately. I have found that its very difficult to hydrate the pucks quickly without direct water contact. Your choices are direct water (my small puck only needs about a 1/4 of a teaspoon), or passive hydration. For example, you can put the puck(s) in a zip lock with a DW soaked sponge for a few days to a week.


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## mrnuke (Aug 24, 2013)

I take a small sealed container, and put a grill or something that elevates the base about half an inch. Then, I fill the bottom 1/8 to 1/4 inchwith distilled water. I add the beads on the grill, close the container, and let them sit overnight. The beads never touch the water directly. They just stay in an environment close to 100% humidity, and start sucking up water molecules one by one.

The next day, I put them back in the humidor, brew my coffee, and start enjoying another hot stick..


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